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On the one hand, litigation is what real lawyers do and everyone should do it because it is intellectually challenging. At a law firm, you are indeed a glorified clerk.
On the other hand, litigation in India is filled with corruption, which makes the profession much less intellectually challenging than it should be. Trial court proceedings (the most exciting part of law and what we see in American legal TV shows) are an absolute joke and attracts the worst talent both from the bar and bench. Plus of course the nepotism. Only nepo kids get ahead, barring a few rare exceptions. We have seen what happened with UU Lalit's son a few days ago. Also, the pay is incredibly low. Not an issue for nepo kids, but an issue for others.
1. You don't wanna do litigation for so and so reason i.e, bullshit - Completely fair. You'll always encounter a ton of shit in this profession and its not for everyone. Like, you need to be patient to succeed and really grind your whole life to even be decent at it.
2. You lack awareness of basic legal information and you think an internship in litigation would have/could have remedied that, at least partly if not completely - Okay so this question can be answered in two parts:
a. Firstly, your doubts. The CPC is the Civil Procedure Code, 1908. It governs civil procedure. Its a procedural law that oversees the functioning of legal bodies that deal with civil law, where disputes are related personal injuries between parties, i.e., civil wrongs. Its not the CrPC, which is the code of criminal procedure, 1973 which oversees criminal procedure for offences. Court Fees is the amount of money you're paying the court for your suit. You make a suit (various kinds of suits such as plaints, petitions, appeals, miscellaneous suits etc) and for filing and admitting your suit, you pay a fee. Your suit will have something called a prayer, which is what you're asking as relief for the suit. You calculate a certain percentage of the sum you're claiming and pay the court. In some courts, the fee will be fixed and you dont have to make that calculation. For Example, court fee for a district consumer case where you're claiming compensation over 10 lakhs is Rs. 800. Simple concept right?
Moving on, stamps are documents that you affix with certain documents such as applications or agreements that authenticate the agreement. It means the agreement has some sort of binding effect over it and can be used as evidence of authenticity before a court. It is needed in several situations such as filing applications and authenticating agreements, such as lease and rental agreements. This question is quite broad and the Stamp Act has several layers to it. In fact, its not required for an average citizen to know when a stamp is required for each and every situation. Its helpful in common situations such as authenticating your rental agreement, but the Act has fairly complex aspects to it. In situations like those, I think its best to consult a lawyer.
Regarding registering a house, don't worry, I believe in you. You can most definitely register a house as a matter of right and ability. But in all seriousness, registering a house also has several layers to it and you aren't going to learn that from a three month internship. Why? Because its contextual. If you were to make a simple sale, where you're going to purchase a house, then the process would be simpler and you can have your sale deed ready with your aforementioned stamp, knowledge you had because of your awareness of the Stamp Act. But, there's more to buying a house than just signing a sale deed. Buying plots of land, getting sanctions on them from your local civic amenities board, your sewage and water supply board, your electricity board, obtaining sanctioned plans, getting materials and everything, signing off on your architect and so many other layers to that process of building a house, all of which you are definitely not going to learn in an internship. You're gonna need a lawyer for that.
Regarding street smarts, being a lawyer can help yeah, but not an intern. I imagine a large number of firms/chambers aren't going to send interns to handle with police officers, gladhandle them, explain the situation of their case and have an FIR registered and deal with criminals during their summons and production in a witness box along with cops and bribe them and all that right? Even for regular situations, like speeding fines, your street smarts are dependent on experience, and being a lawyer isn't the only way or even the only right way to do it. Relax, cops are normal most of the time too. You can deal with them just like any other person. There are of course, belligerent cops, but being a lawyer may only give you some methods of dealing with the situation. Doesn't mean you can't deal with it.
b. Secondly, whether an internship would change any of the situations above: Yes, if your doing it in the relevant fields that cater to your desire for awareness in the legal profession. Civil and crim trial lawyers do this shit daily dude, but as an intern, your learning will be restricted to minimal responsibilities. Its not going to be the same as an associate, and you won't learn to be an expert in two-three months even if the internship is as intense as being an associate in a small and overburdened chambers. It takes ages to develop a skillset required to handle situations like this with ease. Even though you may learn the basics, it'll also be restricted to just experiences you have with the Chambers. It won't prepare you for adulthood. Just chill and go with the motion and you'll experience all this anyway. Worst case, you just call a lawyer.
3. As a lawyer, you need to understand that the expectation that you're going to be this all-knowing street smart savvy dude who has connections to the underworld is just a societal concept. You have no reason to feel inadequate about not doing things like this. They are not simple or minor legal affairs and require people with experience to handle these affairs smoothly. You don't have to feel inadequate because this is the path you chose not to take and you've decided to specialize in something else as a lawyer that someone in litigation probably has 0 idea about. You don't need to know everything. Its like being a mechanical engineer and feeling bad because you don't know how to code. A lot of the things you're going through can just be solved by living every day and going through the motions. They don't need to be fast tracked by doing a litigation internship.
Don't worry about it and relax, all these basic legal stuffs you don't have to know beforehand and you don't need to do a litigation internship to keep abreast with them.
However, sometimes I feel like I should've perhaps done an intensive two-three month litigation internship. Because I feel there is so much of basic legal stuff I have absolutely no idea about and will not really be exposed to either in transactional work.
I barely know the full-form of CPC. I have no idea what court fees is. I know what a stamp paper looks like, but what is it, when is it needed, why is it needed? If in the future I need to get my own house registered, I can't even do that. And then there are general street smarts that you need to live in India: learning how to deal with cops etc.
I just feel somewhat inadequate that I'd need someone else to handle even minor legal affairs for me.
Thoughts?